by Helium01

Created on: September 13, 2009

Knitting a sweater as a surprise gift isn't the easiest thing to do. You must consider all the personal factors of the person that you are attempting to surprise. If you don't know such things as size, color, and style preference, you will need to do some research to find out what you need to know to make a sweater that the person will actually wear. Below are some tips to help you in this process.

If you don't know what size the person wears, you can use try to sneak a peek at the neck tag of a shirt. Or, if you are daring you could do some detective work in his closet. If you do choose to do a little bit of closet snooping, take advantage of the information that you can gather from such an endeavor.

Take a quick look to see what colors and styles the person currently wears. Does she really need another black cardigan? Does she like cables, raglan sleeves, short sleeves, asymmetrical styling, or a simple stocking stitch with two-inch ribbing? What can you do to make your offering truly stand out?

Assessing her current style will tell you what she wears right now but not necessarily what will look best on her. If you believe her current wardrobe needs a style update, try to choose a pattern that will be a stretch for her, but still within the same family style that she is used too. Something too different from what she is used to wearing is likely to end up at the second-hand shop.

Once size, style and color are decided, your next job is to knit the garment. This is an easy task if you do not live with the person. However, if your gift recipient is your spouse or other close family member or friend with whom you live, you will have to be more creative about how and when you knit.

How can you knit a sweater with the person noticing you doing it? The bottom line is that you will need some time alone to get it done, but this time does not necessarily need to be at home. If you ride the bus to and from work or carpool, you could spend some of the ride knitting. If you have a job that has downtime, or a good lunch hour, you could spend some of it knitting. If you decide to try knitting at night when the person has gone to sleep, be sure to have a bag and book handy so that you can toss the knitting into the bag and pretend to be reading the book, should the person wake up while you are working on the sweater.

When you have finally completed the knitting project and your friend or family member has received the gift, you can rest easy knowing that you created a unique and thoughtful gift that will likely be treasured for years.

Above all else, make sure that you choose a pattern that is within your abilities or you may end up abandoning the project before long. Choosing a pattern that is easy for you will keep your motivation high and provide a finished product of which you can be proud.

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